how much budget for central heating, new kitchen & bathroom?

If they've not spent money on things like kitchen, bathroom or heating, you should also bear in mind other things like electrics might need attention... Also, if there's been no heating, there's probably damp (ignore the agent, they'll tell you anything).

New kitchen - £1k-30k fitted, depending on what you can afford and what you want. Mine cost around £6-7k with appliances.

Bathroom - low hundreds for cheapest suite, cheap tiles around, fitting will cost. Could do all between £1k-5k. Spent about £500 on a suite several years ago and my ex fitted it so that didn't cost us anything.

Not sure about cost of installing whole heating system - boiler, rads, etc. At least £3k I would imagine, possibly double or three times that, depending on how much work needs doing! New boiler cost me over £1k, under £2k. I forget now. That was around 3 years ago.

Someone else will probably be able to assist more.

Jx

I agree with what hazyjo has said regarding looking at the electrics, damp etc and cost.

It seems that the owners haven't looked after the property - it hasn't been 'loved' for a very long time. I would take what the agent says with a pinch of salt - remember the agent just wants to sell AND is working for the vendor!

The estimated cost of new kitchen, bathroom and heating system really depends on a few things. It depends on the size of the rooms e.g. kitchen; are you looking for a fitted kitchen, what extras do you want, have you got expensive taste?! Same for bathroom - you could spend a fortune - depends on what you want! Are you looking to do the work yourself?

Are the rooms in good condition - would you need to plaster the walls, are there tiles etc you would need to remove, what about the flooring?

One thing with kitchens and bathrooms, many companies have 0% interest on kitchens and bathrooms - how much can you spare on your monthly costs?

With heating, it would be at least £3k I would imagine. How many radiators, boiler etc. Is there gas mains in the area you are looking to buy?

Sorry for rambling, it's just something to think about. Also, how much could you take off the asking price? How long has it been on the market? What is the reason for sale - do you think they are desparate to sell - there are many reasons for selling!

Look on sites to look at how much other terraced houses have gone for in the area for a guide - although they may have been in better condition!

As others have said, it's a matter of how much you are willing to spend and what type of spec you want.

Central heating 3-5k
Bathroom 1k-???
Kitchen 3k-???

Having had a terraced house which needed all this doing, I'd also say consider the other consequences. Drilling into walls to fix rads showed us that the plaster had blown in many places and we ended up getting the downstairs re-plastered. Which meant knocking the old plaster off, cost of skips to dump old plaster in, etc, etc.

Installing central heating meant a lot of floorboards were taken up. Existing carpeting never really went back down right. Also, pipes were surface mounted and capping put over them....looked a bit messy all in all.

We discovered lead water pipes as well and eventually got these sorted under the lead pipe replacement scheme. But it was a hassle.

However, that's just my experience, which obviously wasn't a very good one! lol. You could be lucky.

For my next house, I bought a newish build house. Lost out on space but given the choice again, I'd never choose to buy a house that required that amount of work.

Good luck.

TOBRUK wrote: »

It seems that the owners haven't looked after the property - it hasn't been 'loved' for a very long time.

Tobruk, I would have to respectfully disagree with you.

An older property requiring updating and modernisation isn't synonymous with neglectful owners and being unloved. Indeed, often it means that the owner regarded it as a home rather than a quick turnaround investment opportunity.

I can't tell you how many properties I've viewed who HAD been "updated"....but for the sole purpose of a sale. Every fitting and fixture in those houses was naff. REALLY naff. Cheap fake wood laminate floors, budget kitchen, low cost appliances, naff showers, naff carpets, ill thought out extensions or clumsy loft conversions...and on and on it goes.

And for the "priviledge" of those "improvements" the vendor expected a truly princely sum. No way. A house requiring modernisation at a realistic price which reflects this is infinitely preferable to any buyer.

Infinitely.

harrup, I can see your point and agree with what you are saying. The properties I viewed - a few had made some 'improvements' which were badly done (diy was poor!) and this is something you can judge for yourself when viewing.

I also saw a couple of properties where the previous owners had lived in the property for many years and hadn't 'modernised' - it was obviously their 'home' and yes, they did 'love' it.

I suppose you judge the property taking all this to account and the reason for selling.